My newest book:
Dolly Parton and Her Imagination Library
I've known that a couple of my books have been part of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library but I didn't know very much about her reading program until I just read an interview with her in School Library Journal. Imagination Library was launched in her hometown in Tennessee in 1996: every child under five received a new book every month in the mail, getting off to great start their exposure to books in their earliest years. Over the last 13 years her literacy program has grown enormously so that now 6 million books are mailed each year to registered preschoolers in the US, UK, and Canada.
From the interview: Did you ever think you'd be called “The Book Lady?”
I have been called a lot of things but there was a time in my life when the Book Lady wasn’t one of them! Honestly, it is an honor to be called the Book Lady. There’s even a Canadian film out now about me called the Book Lady. They did a great job of capturing the essence of the Imagination Library and my role in it.
Why have you said that the Imagination Library may be one of the most important things you’ve done?
You never know what people are going to think about what you have done or just how you will be remembered. Some people come up to me and tell me how a song I wrote helped them through a desperate time or allowed them to see through all of the clutter in their life. Songwriting is special that way; you just never know what impact a song will have on people. The Imagination Library is the same way. The letters I receive will just bring you to tears 'cause they tell me how important the books are to their kids. So maybe that’s what doing something important is—it’s leaving folks with a song or a book or a kind word to help their light shine.
Why is early childhood literacy so important to you?
In the beginning, all I ever hoped to do was to inspire kids to love books, pure and simple. What I discovered is a huge group of people and organizations who are so committed to helping kids at an early age. I do what I can but in all 1,000 communities we work in there are hundreds of people in every community who raise money to pay for the books, register the children, and do so much more to give their kids the best start in the world. I stand in amazement of all of their love and dedication.
How do kids react to the books?
I always thought that if we wanted kids to think that books are special then the books have to make the kids feel special—and that is exactly what has happened. Kids love gifts and they love mail so when you put the two together you get what we hoped would happen—children are excited about books. Kids run up to me all the time and thank me for the books. It’s the cutest, sweetest thing in the world.
For the full interview at School Library Journal, click here
My books that are part of the program are Zinnia's Flower Garden and Ana cultiva manzanas, the dual language Spanish/English edition of Apple Farmer Annie. It is gratifying to know that books of mine are included in this program, to know that so many children who might not otherwise have books, now have growing libraries of their very own.
